You are here9th August 2020

9th August 2020

By Alison Hudson - Posted on 05 August 2020

St Michael & St Wulfad Church, Stone

and St Saviour Church, Aston

Sunday 9 August 2020

Matthew 14: 22-33 - Jesus Walks on the Water

Sunday Services

8am and 10.45am St Michael & St Wulfad, 9.15am St Saviour

Sunday afternoon Prayervia Zoom/telephone 4pm and 5pm

Thursday communionSt Michael & St Wulfad 10.30am

Church is open for worship

We are delighted that our churches are open for worship. At St Michael’s we enter through the main door and exit through the south door. Seating will be in the central body of the church.

All cushions have been removed, so do bring your own if you would find that more comfortable. Services will be a Said Communion, with just bread being distributed. You will be asked to stand, not kneel, at the altar and follow a one-way system. There will be no singing and no service sheets, but all the words you need will be projected onto the screen.

Please sanitise your hands as you enter church and maintain social distancing at all times. There are no refreshments, but toilet facilities are available.

Face Masks

Current government guidance is that we are 'strongly advised' to wear a face mask in church, although there are plans to make this mandatory from 8 August. The ministry team will wear masks or visors at the door, but not during the service, apart from at the distribution of Bread.

Regular Giving

To minimise the handling of cash, could you consider making regular donations to the church via standing order from your bank? If you are able or would prefer to do this, please contact John Baddeley on 01785 815397, or email johnandpat@allaboutimage.netThank you!

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need to.

Revd Preb Ian Cardinal 01785 812747 Dennis Abbott 01785 814134

Revd Alison Hudson 07725 467246 Fr John Cotterill 07734 815838

Lin Davis 01889 505094

Stone with Aston Sunday afternoon prayers by telephone

Not all of ushas access to the internet, or will be coming out of lockdown so we will continue to offer a short service of Daily Prayer on a Sunday afternoon that you can join with via a telephone call.

The weekly prayer sheets that we use for Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 are generic, so please keep a copy of each and have it to hand for the service. This Sunday is Week 2.

This service takes place on Sundays at 4pm for Stone and

5pm for Aston, but please feel free to phone in at whichever time suits you best. You do not need a computer for this - just a telephone. The instructions are as follows:

Just before 4pm or 5pm on Sunday phone one of these numbers (the cost should be the same as a normal phone call):

0131 460 1196or 0203 481 5237

enter the meeting ID on your telephone keypad-

897 6759 5340
you will be asked for a participant number - just enter #
enter the password which is 928354

We will welcome everyone who has phoned in and we will all be able to hear each other speak. We will then say prayers together. The service will last about 15 minutes.

If you have internet access, you can join the meeting via the following ‘Zoom’ link using the above meeting ID and password

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89767595340?pwd=aWt0VjRQUlpGeHkvMHVLbHdla3dZdz09

Readings for Sunday 9 August

1 Kings 19: 9-18 Romans 10: 5-15 Matthew 14: 22-33

First some news: Bishop Michael has kindly agreed to Rev’d Alison Hudson changing her status from Self-supporting, to Stipendiary ministry. Up to this point everything Alison has done with us and for us has been on a volunteer basis, the same as our other friends and colleagues, Fr John, Berwyn, Lin and Dennis. From the first of September, Alison will be our stipendiary Curate and colleague – and congratulations and prayers to and for her. This is no small matter – she has had to go through further examination and Bishop Michael has had to give his authority

This is a mixed blessing for us, of course. It does mean that Alison will remain with us – but only for the time being. Eventually, she will do the same as other Curates before her and move on to undertaking a Parish of her own. But for now we rejoice with her and recognise that this is a step of faith

What an appropriate expression! This week’s gospel is that of Jesus walking on the water, terrifying them before they recognised him – and then it tells us of Peter’s adventure on the water himself – and of his panic when he realised what a dangerous step he was making

But the point of the story is very much one of our keeping our eyes upon the Lord. Peter was doing fine as long as he placed his trust in the Lord – but when he allowed himself to be distracted by the other things around, and then he found he was overwhelmed – until Jesus stretched out his hand and rescued him

What do you think you can’t do? It’s very easy to be overwhelmed at the moment. All of us have had a bad time over the last few months – and some have received some devastating blows. But we never know what we can do when we put our trust in Christ Jesus. I have often told the story of how I first came to Stone:- a very diffident and shy teenager who hated even answering the phone; one whose mother thought whatever I achieved in life, it would be something where I didn’t have to stand up in public! I wonder what she would have thought to hear my voice on Radio Stoke last weekend? The truth is that God in Christ Jesus wrought something in me that none of us could ever have imagined

Alison is taking a risk, of course. There are no guarantees that God gives us – and this is not a great time for Stipendiary Ministry in God’s Church – our Diocese alone is talking about losing out on millions of pounds as we gradually recover from the Coronavirus. But what she is doing is the right thing – her assessors agree on that – as she offers herself to minister in the future of Christ’s Church. So pray for her and Simon – and for us as we journey on together. But do ponder and pray about how you may be being asked to step outside the comfort of the boat, holding the hand of the Lord!Ian Cardinal

The Collect for Sunday

Gracious Father, revive your Church in our day, and make her holy, strong and faithful, for your glory’s sake in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Prayers

In peace, let us pray to Jesus our Lord, who ever lives to make intercession for us.